Local businesses, nonprofits and communities in the New York metropolitan area are benefitting from a new “community chest” for support.
Dime Community Bank announced Monday it has made significant efforts to support neighboring communities and businesses by funding a philanthropic community chest initiative.
“In many of the neighborhoods where our branches are located, our branch managers have seen long-serving and much-loved business owners unable to conduct business,” Kenneth J. Mahon, CEO of the bank, said. “Dime wants to help assure their return to business-as-usual after the quarantine is declared over by supporting owners financially until they can once again become important quality of life cornerstones of their communities.”
He continued, “To help support our business community and the nonprofit organizations that are providing valuable resources and services to our customers and neighbors, we established this philanthropic outreach program.”
As part of Dime’s community chest, the bank has already provided 40 small business grants totaling $200,000 through a partnership with the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York.
“The response has been great,” remarked Kevin Gallagher, Senior Vice President and Group Leader, SBA Lending. “We received 291 applications and over 400 nominations from a diverse mix of businesses and community organizations,” he noted.
In addition to the grant program, Dime has coordinated the following outreach efforts:
- Partnered with PinkTie to provide food donations through the nonprofit’s Doorstep Donation Food Drive, a no-contact food drive program.
- Donated a total of $30,000 to regional food banks City Harvest and Long Island Cares to assist in relief efforts.
Other Dime community chest efforts include employee volunteerism initiatives, through the Bank’s #DimeDay program, and a partnership with Heart 911 to offer volunteer construction support to help businesses repair damaged storefronts or offices.
To help raise awareness about the efforts in support of Dime community chest, the Bank has created a dedicated web page at dime.com/community-chest to feature many of these local business owners and their stories.
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